[ BUSINESS BRIEFS ]

Staff writer, with Agencies

Mon, Oct 15, 2012 - Page 14

China has decided to extend anti-dumping tariffs imposed on spandex fiber exporters from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the US for another five years.

In an announcement released on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said if the ministry lifts the tariff penalties, further dumping activity from these regions is likely to take place.

The anti-dumping tariff extension went into effect on Saturday following the approval of the Customs Tariffs Commission at China’s State Council, the ministry said.

Spandex yarn, also known as Lycra in the textile industry, is a synthetic fiber which has exceptional elasticity. The fiber is used in a wide range of products, including athletic, aerobic, and exercise clothing, swimming suits, socks, leggings and even surgical bandages.

AIDC nets Japanese buyers

Taiwan-based Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) on Saturday announced that it has obtained more than NT$750 million (US$25.51 million) in orders from two Japanese buyers.

Mike Lee (李適彰), a spokesman for the state-run company, said AIDC signed agreements a day earlier with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd for the new orders during this year’s Japan International Aerospace Exhibition.

AIDC is the largest of 13 exhibitors from Taiwan to participate in the aerospace fair that began on Thursday in Nagoya, Japan, and will run through to today.

Under the agreements, AIDC will manufacture 25 components for the wing center section used in Boeing 747-8 aircraft for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, while it will produce movable wing components used in Embraer ERJ-190 aircraft for Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Lee said the massive orders are expected to boost the company’s revenue over the next five years.

TSMC unveils new chip

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Friday said it had taped out the foundry’s segment’s first “CoWoSTM” test chip.

The CoWoSTM is an integrated process technology that attaches device silicon chips to a wafer through a chip-on-wafer bonding process, the contract chipmaker said.

Polysilicon to hit record low

Polysilicon, the raw material used by the US$38 billion a year solar industry, is forecast to bottom near a record low next year after the leading manufacturers in China and South Korea halted factory expansions.

The spot price will fall 6 percent to about US$18.20 a kilogram by the middle of next year and then is likely to stabilize, according to the median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The commodity crashed from US$475 in 2008 and is down 27 percent this year to US$19.36 on Oct. 1, the lowest in at least a decade

Want Want CEO nation’s richest

Chairman and CEO of Want Want China Holdings Ltd (中國旺旺控股) Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) was named as the richest person on Forbes magazine’s list of the 40 wealthiest Taiwanese for this year.

The 55-year-old, who has a net fortune of US$8 billion, turned his family’s small trading outfit into a food and beverage giant with US$2.9 billion in revenue, according to the US-based magazine.

Wei Ing-chou (魏應州) and his three brothers, who head Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), collectively came in second on the list with a combined net worth of US$6.6 billion.

Fubon Group (富邦集團) founder Tsai Wan-tsai (蔡萬才) and his family took third place with their US$6.2 billion fortune, followed by Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) who has a net worth of US$4.8 billion.

Cher Wang (王雪紅), chairwoman of smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電), and her husband, Chen Wen-chi (陳文琦), took eighth place on the list with a combined net worth of US$3.05 billion.